第21章 CHAPTER IX(2)

"I gave him a digest of its contents," the General replied. "He smiled in a supercilious manner and said I had better do as I was asked."Thomson said nothing for a moment. His face was very set and he had the air of a man desperately but quietly angry.

"As a matter of fact," General Brice continued, glancing at the clock on his desk, "Granet is in my anteroom at the present moment, I expect. He asked for an interview this afternoon.""Have him in, if you don't mind," the other suggested. "I can sit at the empty desk over there. I can be making some calculations with reference to the number of hospital beds for each transport. I want to hear him talk to you."The General nodded and touched a bell.

"You can show Captain Granet in," he told the boy scout who answered it.

Thomson took his place in the far corner of the room and bent over a sheaf of papers. Presently Granet was ushered in. He was leaning a little less heavily upon his stick and he had taken his arm from the sling for a moment.

He saluted the General respectfully and glanced across the room towards where Thomson was at work. If he recognised him, however, he made no sign.

"Well, Granet," the General inquired, "how are you getting on?""Wonderfully, sir," was the brisk reply. "I have seen my own doctor this morning and he thinks I might come up before the Board on Saturday.""And what does that mean?"

"I want to get back again, sir," Granet replied eagerly.

The General stroked his grey moustache and looked searchingly at the young officer. He was standing full in the light of a ray of sunshine which came streaming through the high, uncurtained windows. Although he was still a little haggard, his eyes were bright, his lips were parted in an anticipatory smile, his whole expression was engaging. General Brice, studying him closely, felt compelled to admit the improbability of his vague suspicions.

"That's all very well, you know," he reminded him quietly, "but you won't be fit enough for active service for some time to come."The young man's face fell.

"I am sure they must be wanting me back, sir," he said naively.

The General shook his head.

"I don't want to disappoint you, young fellow," he continued, "but I heard from your Brigadier only yesterday. He has been obliged to fill up your place and I don't think he has room for any one on his staff."Granet looked a little hurt.

"I thought he might have made a temporary appointment," he said gloomily.

"This is no time to consider individuals," the General pointed out. "What about finding you a billet at home for a time, eh? You've seen a bit of the rough side of the war, you know.""I'd sooner go out and dig trenches!"

Thomson had risen slowly from his place and, with a sheet of foolscap in his hand, closely covered with writing, crossed the room.

"You might get taken prisoner again, Captain Granet," he remarked drily.

There was a moment's rather tense silence. The young man's lips had come together, his eyes flashed.

"I did not recognise you, Major Thomson," he said calmly. "Have you found a new billet?""My old one is sufficiently absorbing just at present," the other replied laying his calculations on the General's desk. "Forgive my interrupting you, sir, but you told me to let you have this as soon as I had finished. That is my estimate of the number of beds we could stow away in the cubic feet you offer us."The General glanced at the paper and nodded.

"Don't go, Thomson," he said. "I'll talk to you about this later on. Well, Captain Granet," he added, "you'd better leave things in my hands. I'll do the best I can for you.""I shall be very disappointed if I don't get out to the Front again soon, sir," the young man declared simply.

"I'll do the best I can," the General repeated, touching his bell.

Granet was shown out and the door was closed. General Brice turned towards his companion.

"Thomson," he said, "frankly, I can't believe it. However, we'll find him a billet where he can't possibly do any mischief.""If you found him a billet where I should like to see him," Surgeon-Major Thomson observed bitterly, "he would never do any more mischief in this world!

Any dispatches from the Front, sir?"

General Brice raised his eyebrows.

"Are you off again?" he asked.

"I am going to see that young man's General," Thomson replied. "I shall cross over to-day and be back to-morrow night or Saturday morning."General Brice nodded thoughtfully.

"Perhaps you are right," he assented. "Yes, I shall have a few reports.

You'd better let them know at the Admiralty, and what time you want to go over."Surgeon-Major Thomson shook hands with the General and turned towards the door.

"When I come back," he said, "I hope I'll be able to convince even you, sir."